combat catastrophic global warming. Over five hundred seventy-five residents are now e2 Citizens.

I have attended and presented at national and international conferences on global warming and energy policy, including the recent Clinton Global Initiative. With Robert Redford and ICLEI, I co-hosted the second annual Sundance Summit: A Mayor�s Gathering on Climate Change, which brought together thirty mayors from throughout the United States to learn about the science of global warming and how to reduce global warming pollution in each of our communities. While we have made great strides through our climate protection campaign, we are powerless to stop disastrous climate change unless other governmental entities, businesses, and individuals also begin to use clean, renewable sources of fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Our successes have helped breed more success in other communities, as they learn about what we have been able to accomplish.

In the coming year, we will seek to expand our recycling program through expanded multi-unit residential and business participation. We will seek to offset our use of electricity through investment in clean technologies or in projects, such as rainforest preservation, that reduce carbon dioxide atmospheric concentration. We will partner with the University of Utah and other educational stakeholders to develop resources and curriculum materials to educate local students about the science of global warming, and how to help solve the problem. We will launch a substantial educational and policy initiative to improve our poor local air quality. We will also develop a long-term climate action plan to reduce global warming pollution.

The work of our Department of Public Utilities has been a critical element of our sustainability objectives. Just as importantly, the Department has ensured that all Salt Lake City residents have access to some of the purest water in the United States. Last year, the Department received the Director�s Award from the EPA and American Water Works Association�s Joint Program Partnership for Safe Water. The award was given for five years of voluntary compliance to stricter safety standards for drinking water than required by law. Our water treatment plants are among only thirty-four facilities nationwide to meet these standards and receive this award.

The astounding progress by the Public Utilities Department continues. Today, the City closed on the purchase of Donut Falls at Cardiff Fork, a critical watershed area and a beautiful hiking destination that has been closed to the public in recent years. Securing vital watershed lands like Donut Falls will help ensure the continued integrity and purity of our water supply.